Customers of Optus and iiNet, along with users of TPG and Internode, have a much faster Internet connection than their Telstra-using counterparts, according to results generated by ZDNet Australia's Broadband Speedtest.

Thousands of Web users across the globe have taken the ZDNet Australia broadband speedtest, which determines a user's broadband speeds, since it was launched in September.

Since its introduction, more than 270,000 tests have been completed, the majority of them from Australian users.

Battle of the Australian ISPs
Though the results will change as more people take the test, Exetel is currently in top place -- with an average connection speed of 11,258 kbps. However, it should be noted that only two tests have been completed using the ISP's network at the time of writing. Second place was claimed by iiNet, with an average speed of 8,688 kbps after more than 38,000 tests.

OptusNet, TGP Internet and Internode currently stand at fifth, sixth and seventh, with average speeds of 6,942 kbps, 6,924 kbps and 6,183 kbps respectively.

After more than 55,000 tests, Telstra has notched up both the fastest (169,054 kbps) and slowest (1 kbps) recorded speeds. BigPond currently records an average of 5,646 kbps and sits in ninth place overall.

On the slower end of the table, AAPT only managed an average seed of 1,568 kbps after more than 5,000 tests while Unwired, with 605 tests, managed an average performance of 364 kbps. At the foot of the table is satellite ISP Gobush Broadband, which after 31 tests managed a top connection speed of just 701 kbps and an average of 349 kbps.

For the complete ISP table with more than 40 providers' results click here.

State of origin -- Web style
NSW took the top spot with an average speed of 6,746 kbps, with Queensland and Victoria a close behind on 5,842 kbps and 5,682 kbps respectively. Despite the resources boom, WA is second-last with an average of 3,960 kbps. Tasmania lags behind with a sluggish 1,107 kbps average.

The Australia-based rankings are available here.

The World Cup
Quiet achiever Switzerland took the top spot on with a blistering average speed of 20,978 kbps, followed by neighbour Germany at 19,852 kbps. Surprisingly, high-tech pioneer Japan is only ranked sixth with an average connection of 12,187 kbps.

An average speed of 6,381 kbps took Australia to 22nd place, just pipping Singapore.

Check the country rankings for yourself.

ZDNet Australia's Broadband Speed Test measures the data throughput between a computer and a geographic distributed network of servers to calculate how fast broadband speeds are in the real world. The results are not an indication of the actual line speed between the user and the ISP. There are many external factors such as network congestion and routing between multiple networks that can affect individual results, which means the broadband speed test does not necessarily warrant 100 percent accuracy.